Misdirection and Misfortune
by VolcanicPizza
Summary: Inexplicably, the animatronics escaped. Since then, they've scattered across this part of the state, evading all who have tried to bring them back in. After his father vanished attempting to deactivate the animatronics, the man known as "Phone Guy" has been ordered to succeed where his father failed. And this time, Afton has demanded no mercy be shown- they must all be destroyed.


**A/N: With this fanfic, I'm trying to do my own take on a certain concept I've seen on multiple occasions. See if you can figure out what this concept is, but don't feel ashamed if you can't: I've tried to be very original with this and significantly deviated from what most people do.**

* * *

"Phone Guy." That's what they call me.

That's what almost everyone calls me.

I can't blame them, honestly. Some days, I can't even remember my own name.

But none of that matters, at least, not now.

What matters is the task that I was given.

I could still hear Afton's voice, resonating clearly in my head.

 _"Ever since the animatronics escaped their various facilities, they've managed to scatter themselves across this corner of the state, hiding mostly in zones uninhabited by man. Your father went out to scout the region and reported that almost all of them were still active before we lost contact with him. Your task is to track down all of the animatronics and destroy them so that they can't harm anyone else, and find your father if you can."_

Personally? I didn't buy William's explanation that the robots had gone rogue, nor that they'd been bloodthirsty killers from the start. But he wasn't paying me to question his orders, and I needed that money to pay for my younger brother's hospital bills. And if I found Dad? Well, that was an added bonus.

But that was for the future. Right now...

Afton had told me that I should start at the site of the old "Sister Location," as he termed it with a mocking sneer in his voice, so that was where I was- more precisely, just leaving the elevator. The thing was ancient and rusted, and several times I'd been convinced that it was going to collapse, but fortunately it hadn't and I was still in one piece.

As I exited the elevator, crawling under crumbling caution tape, I noticed something lying on the floor in front of me. At first, I thought it was just a large doll, but then I realized it was one of the animatronics: the one I'd always tentatively referred to as "that puppet thing" when I was sure it wasn't listening.

Honestly? It always unnerved me, and how it got here- a place where Afton had assured me that only the Funtime models should be present- I didn't want to know.

I was already on edge, so when little lights blinked on in its hollow eyes, I let out a frightened shout and instinctively drew back. The fact that it rose into the air and stared directly into my eyes immediately afterwards did not help matters at all.

"Why are you here?" hissed the puppet, glaring at me with soulless eyes. "You're supposed to be dead!"

The first thing that came to mind was banter, so I stupidly jumped to that. "Well, sorry to disappoint." I shrugged, hoping I wasn't visibly sweating. "Trust me, it's not like I didn't try- I'm disappointed in myself too."

"...you're not funny." the puppet said after a few moments.

"Well, I tried." I shrugged.

"Wait..." The lights in the puppet's eyes flickered out. "I know why you're back here."

"What're you talking about? I've never been here in my-"

"SILENCE!" snarled the puppet, raising its arms. "You're back to destroy us all, aren't you? Finish what you started. Clean up all the loose ends from last time. And don't try to deny it," it added as I began to open my mouth. "I've heard enough lies for a lifetime from people like you. I thought I could expect better from you, given your stellar track record, but CLEARLY NOT."

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about!" I protested weakly. "I'm just here to-"

Thankfully, I was interrupted by a new voice before I had to scramble to come up with an excuse. "And what are you doing here again? Didn't I tell you not to return?"

 _Great, another one. Just what I need._ My thoughts were cut short, however, as I realized that the puppet looked even more petrified than I did. "Eliz- B-Baby? No, you don't understand, there's a-"

"Quiet." the voice instructed. "There is no excuse for you coming back- ESPECIALLY considering your role prior to all of this. I will say it again: leave now, or I will tear your limbs off and leave the others to decide what to do with you."

"But I- You know what? Fine." The puppet began to float away, but didn't depart without an ominous "Your judgement is only temporarily suspended!" aimed at me.

"There." the voice said. It was growing nearer. "Now that that's out of the way, let's get a good look at you."

My "rescuer" emerged from the shadows: a robot, probably around seven feet tall, its design clearly based off of a clown. _That's the one Afton called "Baby."_ I recalled. _He told me it was intelligent and dangerous and that I should deactivate it before destroying it or there was a significant chance it would strike back._

"...you seem familiar." Baby stated after a few uncomfortable moments of staring at me. "Have we met before? Well, it doesn't matter," she dismissed almost immediately, shaking her head. A seemingly reflexive jolt ran across her faceplates. "Why are you here?"

Thankfully, the time it had taken the puppet to depart was all the time I'd needed to come up with an okay-sounding excuse. "I'm just doing a routine inspection." I said. "I shouldn't be here long." The last part, at least, was true. I'd been told the facility wasn't that big and it shouldn't take too long to destroy all the animatronics here... though, the way Afton had phrased it, he'd made it sound like the animatronics would try to kill me on sight, yet Baby didn't seem to really care that I was here one way or the other.

Eh. I could reevaluate my position if _all_ the animatronics proved to be as passive as Baby. For now, I had to stay on task.

"Then don't let me stop you." Baby replied. "Go on, inspect away. I feel as though I should warn you, though," she added, "that none of us have seen a human in quite some time. The others might be a bit... overenthusiastic. I would advise you watch your back, just in case. I will be in my gallery should you need me for something."

Carefully I watched her retreat back into the shadows. Once I was sure she was completely gone, I yanked my flip phone from my pocket and squinted at the faintly glowing screen. William Afton was 2 on speed dial for convenience.

"Uh, hello? Hello?" He didn't pick up, but honestly, I had figured it would be that way. Time to leave a message- something I had years of experience with. "Uh, I got to the place, just like you asked. The, um, the location with the Funtime animatronics, that is."

Did I usually stutter like this? No.

Did I tend to get disproportionately nervous when talking on the phone for some reason? Yes.

It was a stupid little thing, just like me.

"I encountered two animatronics so far- the puppet thing and B... Circus Baby. I don't know why the puppet was here, but I'll- uh, I hope to find out. Soon."

A few awkward seconds ticked by. "Alright, I'll, uh, leave another message or something when I've got more to report."

 _Click..._

With a long sigh, I tried a different number on speed dial.

1.

"Hello?"

No response.

"Dad? Are you there?"

Still nothing. With a sigh, I closed my phone and returned it to my pocket. Today was going to be a long day, I could feel it in my bones.

* * *

 **A/N: I've been seriously considering making a soundtrack for this fanfic now that I have FL Studio, so if y'all are interested, please tell me.**


End file.
